The Answer Man

Last night I watched The Answer Man again because it’s one of my favorite films and I found it on Amazon Prime.  It’s about a guy who wrote books with titles like “Me and God” and the character reminded me of other people I know, including myself, who believe they have had interactions with God.

I laughed out loud not only at the character but at myself.

Many years ago, when I was driving back from Farmington, NM to Durango, CO, I saw a car coming towards me in my lane.  It was coming really fast and I didn’t know what to do.  Should I pull over to the right side ditch and let him go by? Or should I stay in my lane?  I was going the speed limit of 60 Mph.  The other car was going so much faster.

I said, “Help me!” while I clenched the steering wheel, braced for impact.

The voice I heard said, “Hang onto the wheel and stay in your lane!”

And I did.  Thank God I did!

The other car was not coming head-on but was sliding across my lane sideways and into the ditch.

I did pull over, just after the car that could have killed me flipped onto its passenger side in the ditch on my side of the highway.

The guys were still in the car.  I got out of mine and yelled at them to “Get out of your car.  It could explode!”  They crawled out the driver’s window because they couldn’t open the driver’s door.

They were two college students heading for somewhere else on Spring Break.

When the state trooper arrived, he explained that I was lucky.  A guy with a truck had turned in front of them from the road to Ignacio.   The college guy tried to pull over so he wouldn’t hit the truck, but the gravel on his side of the road made his car skid, appearing to be in my lane when it was sliding, slightly sideways.  If I had pulled over while the car was coming towards me, he would have hit me on the driver’s side and killed me.

Someone was watching after me.  I assumed it was God.

Who knows where the voice came from.  Could have been my father who died when I was twelve, an angel, or something else.  But now, so many years later, like the character in The Answer Man, I no longer believe that God talks to me.

Till next time,

“Please be kind to everyone you meet, for we all have our hidden sorrows.” ~Tzaddi